Valoram Research Staff

Eileen O’ Herlihy (UCC)

Eileen O’ Herlihy is the Research Project Manager for UCC (Partner 3) in VALORAM with research involvement in WP5 and responsibility for the website development & management as part of WP2.

She holds a B.Sc. in Plant Science (1995) and PhD on ‘Strategies for disease management’ in Plant Science (2002) from University College Cork. Eileen also holds a Certificate in Quality Assurance and a Diploma in Quality Management. She has extensive research and project management experience at national and international level and has worked on the following research projects:

Siva L.S. Velivelli (UCC)

Biography:

Siva L S Velivelli obtained his Bachelor degree in Biotechnology from Acharya Nagarjuna University, India in 2007 and then undertook an MSc in Biotechnology at the University of Salford, UK in 2008. He decided to continue his career as a scientific researcher and chose to do an unpaid internship to get experience in his field. He was really enthusiastic about doing research in Bioscience and that led him to apply for a PhD. After completing his undergraduate and Master’s degrees, he moved over to the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at University College Cork to start a PhD supervised by Dr Barbara Doyle Prestwich.

Currently he is working on a project entitled 'VALORAM - Valorizing Andean microbial diversity through sustainable intensification of potato-based farming systems'. His research project aims at exploring the existing large biodiversity of beneficial soil micro-organisms of Andean countries for the development of alternative, efficient technologies and crop management practices to improve the sustainability, food security, environmental protection and productivity of Andean cropping systems benefiting rural farming households.

The novelty relies to some extent on isolation and screening of potential potato associated rhizosphere microorganisms for their ability to antagonise, promote growth and protect against disease in Andean traditional agriculture which could help to reduce excessive use of agrochemicals and support sustainable agriculture and environmental protection. The results will directly benefit farmers and may also have potential to increase the productivity of organic or biological potato production in EU.

Siva L.S. Velivelli and Barbara Doyle Prestwich (2014) VALORAM: A case study for the selection of putative biocontrol agents which can be used as part of an integrated disease management system, FESPB/EPSO Congress, Dublin, Ireland, 22-26th June.

Siva L.S. Velivelli and Barbara Doyle Prestwich (2013) How the characterisation of Andean microbial diversity can be used in the development of a low-input sustainable agriculture system in the central Andean Highlands, 5th EPSO Conference, Porto Heli, Greece1- 4th September.

VALORAM: A case study for the selection of putative biocontrol agents which can be used as part of an integrated disease management system, Irish Plant Scientists Association Meeting, University College Cork, Cork. 28-29th April 2014.

Microbial biodiversity in the rhizosphere: Agriculture and Environment, The Environmental Science Association of Ireland, University College Dublin, Dublin, 7-9th March 2012.

Efficacy of rhizobacteria on Plant Growth Promotion and Disease Suppression In vitro, International Symposium on In Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding, Biotechnological advances in In Vitro Horticultural Breeding, Ghent, Belgium, 18-22ndSeptember 2011.

Bioprospecting in the Andean Highlands: a non-GM approach for the control of potato blight for the development of a low-input sustainable agricultural system, The Irish Garden Plant Society, Cork, Ireland, 7th October 2014 and School of BEES, University College Cork seminars for transition year students, University College Cork, Cork, May 14th 2014.

Occupational First Aid Training FETAC Level 5, University College Cork, October 2011

PG6003: Teaching and Learning for Graduate Studies, University College Cork, June 2011

International training course on mycorrhizae (AMF) at MUCL in Belgium from 3rd april to 8th april, 2011 (Funded by EMbaRC)

‘CMS – content management system’ training at University College Cork in April 2010 for the management of the project website (http://valoram.ucc.ie)

Awards:

1) Awarded a conference support grant to attend 7th European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) Conference in Greece from 1 – 4 september 2013.

2) Awarded a conference support grant to attend a Plant Biology Congress at the University of Freiburg, Germany. This conference was jointly organised by Federation of European Societies of Plant Biologists (FESPB) and European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) from 29 July to 3rd August, 2012.

2) Awarded a travel grant (School of BEES, UCC) to cover registration and accommodation fees to attend a 7th International Symposium on In vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding at the Ghent University, Belgium from 18th September to 22nd September, 2011.

3) Awarded a travel grant to cover bench fees, travel and subsistence costs to attend a week-long training course on mycorrhizae in MUCL in Belgium from 3rd april to 8th april, 2011. (http://www.mycorrhiza.be/formation/in_vitro_culture_AMF/index.php). The award has been made as part of the EMbaRCTraining and Outreach Programme (http://www.embarc.eu/infonote.html). EMbaRC is an EU project funded under the Seventh Framework Programme, Research Infrastructures action (INFRA-2008-1.1.2.9: Biological Resources Centres (BRCs) for microorganisms).

Peer Reviewer Role:

African Journal of Biotechnology

African Journal of Plant Science

Carolina Senes (LMU)

Carolina Senés obtained her Bachelor´s degree in Microbiology in 2007 and a Master´s degree in Biotechnology in 2009. During her Master´s degree, she worked characterizing environmental communities of microalgae, this step led her to start a PhD with Dr. Arthur Schüßler in 2010 at the University of Munich.

For the VALORAM project, Carolina is analyzing the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) diversity of the Andean region. AMF live in symbiosis with plants and because of their lifestyle they can only be detected by molecular methods.

The main goals are: i) to know which AMF are associated to potato plants, ii) unravel possible functional aspects of the plant-fungus interactions and iii) find out about possible potato-AMF combinations that can be used for sustainable agriculture.